Guerilla Tactics
by StSE
Summary: G1: Humor/action. Only the quick thinking of some Vietnam Vets can save Prime from termination, but one of them pays the ultimate price for his heroism - or does he?
1. Chapter 1

Preface: A little 'bunny' that I wrote for my youngest daughter, who is forcing me to watch the entire G1 series again with he

Preface: A little 'bunny' that I wrote for my youngest daughter, who is forcing me to watch the entire G1 series again with her. The third grader has her first true crush – on Optimus Prime.

I must thank my father and the other veterans, all pilots from the same Naval Officers Class – from A-2 & A-3 pilots to Blue Angels; for their technical information.

**Vietcong Tactics**

**Chapter 1**

**Super cell..**

The thunder crashed in the distance, rolling steadily across the mid-western hay fields. Barely drowning out the sounds of battle and roaring jet engines.

Optimus Prime was badly outnumbered, outflanked and outgunned. As Starscream aimed Megatron and sent another powerful blast his way, the Autobot dove to the ground and rolled, getting just a glancing burn on a shoulder. He shot back, causing the second-in-command to fall back to the ground, Megatron being thrown in the air. Transforming quickly, the con leader aimed his cannon at the prone Mech, missing again as Prime swiftly transformed and rammed into him.

"You'll pay for that!" Megatron growled, as he fired again at the swiftly retreating semi. His Seeker squadrons already back in the air, strafing the Autobot with laser fire.

Optimus headed straight into the approaching Super cell, knowing the cons couldn't fly in its furious winds. It was his only escape route! He just prayed that there were no Tornado's touching down. Suddenly, a jolt ran through his systems as one of the Seekers got a direct hit on him, he swerved uncontrollably, jack-knifing, hearing the cons closing in on his helpless form. Then a blinding sheet of rain drowned him, and he knew he had made it to the cover of the storm.

"The Super cell is gaining strength Megatron," Soundwave said in his monotone voice.

The leader gave a disgusted humph, as his Seekers banked off, away from the approaching storm's fury. "We'll look for Prime after the storm passes, if a tornado doesn't get him – we'll finish him off!" then he and his troops retreated to safety, to wait for the tornadic front to pass.

Fighting the battering winds and rain, Prime straightened himself out, and drove forward, straight into the heart of the storm. Systems check showed him that not only was he now stuck in vehicle mode, but his satellite linkup system was down, so he only had short-wave radio left, which he couldn't get through to Metroplex with. In desperation, he kept driving, praying that he wasn't flipped over by the winds.

**Ranchers**

"Hey, John! There's a semi cutting across the south hay field!" Simon shouted. As the first wave of the front passed, he had stood up from the ditch he was lying in, and noticed the out-of-place rig.

His brother also stood up, soaked from head-to-toe, but happy that neither of the tractors seemed to be damaged. Squinting against the light rain, he looked over to where his younger brother was pointing. "Damned right! What the hell is he thinkin'? The squares are in the big barn, not in the field!" John tried to squeegee some of the water from his pants, heading towards the bigger of the two tractors. "Damned truck is pulling a box, not a flat – I think the bastard is lost!"

"And he'll get stuck in that field!" Simon added, knowing that with the soft soil and the heavy rain, even their double-wheeled 4X4 Tractors could have issues out there.

John began to climb into the tractor's cab. "I'll go get him; you get the other tractor to the barns before the second wave hits! It's supposed to be even worse than the first round!"

Simon waved his agreement, sloshing over to his tractor and heading toward the barns in fourth high.

Throwing the huge tractor into 4X4, John rumbled across the field, noting that the semi was already having traction problems, and from all the dents on it, appeared to have been in some kind of wreck. Then the semi got completely stuck, bottoming out in the mud. Pulling up next to the semi, John parked his tractor, leaving it idling; jumping out he ran up to the cab of the semi – to see what the hell the driver was doing here!

Stepping up, he peered into the cab – there was no one there! "What the hell!" he exclaimed in shock. Throwing the door open, he clambered inside, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'm an Autobot, and I need your help," a deep male voice said to the man.

John turned around in shock, and then realized that there was one of those Autobot symbols on the steering wheel. "Shit! You scared the hell outt've me. What the heck are you doing out here in my fields?!" he demanded to know.

"I was involved in a battle just east of here; I took cover in these storms after I was damaged," the mech informed him.

The old Veteran's eyes got a little bigger. "You must've been pretty desperate to have taken cover in a line of Super cells!"

"Affirmative," Optimus agreed, "But I fear the Decepticons will resume their search for me once the weather front passes. I'm stuck in vehicle mode, long range communications are out, and I'm totally defenseless."

John thought for a second, he and his brothers' experiences in Vietnam came to mind. "Hmm, then we've got about another hour-and-a-half to figure something out. Let me unhook your trailer and I'll pull you to the main barns, I think I may have an idea."

The old vet unhooked the box trailer, and backed the monstrous John Deer tractor to Prime's bumper. Hopping off, he swiftly ran heavy pull chains around the mech's front axle and connected it to the tractor. Within ten minutes, the vet was swiftly dragging the semi cab across the field, his large tractor easily handling the load.

The made it to the main barn complex as the next line of super cells began rumbling ominously in the distance. As they stopped on the solid gravel drive, John got out and began unhooking the chains. Looking up as Simon came out of the Tractor barn.

Simon looked around, confused, "So where's the driver?"

"It's a damned Autobot," John informed him.

Looking curiously at the mud-covered semi, Simon asked the mech, "So why didn't you just transform and get your own self unstuck?"

"I'm stuck in this mode," came the reply.

John looked over at his brother. "We still got that flatbed that Ryan's Logistics left last load?" he asked.

"Yes, it's loaded in barn number three, along with our three local rigs. They're supposed to pick it up on Friday," Simon answered, his voice confused. Just what in the devil was his older brother up to?

"Call the rest of our brothers get them over here ASAP, this guy's in deep shit and I've got an idea on how to get him outt've it," John said, then ran over to the number three barn and pushed the button to get the huge hydraulic doors to start raising it. Motioning for Prime to turn and back in.

Simon looked at his brother quizzically. He hadn't heard that tone in his voice since their last mission in Vietnam. Realizing it was serious, he jumped in John's tractor and radioed to their siblings to join them here – it was an emergency.

--

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	2. Undercover

Vietcong Tactics

**Vietcong Tactics**

**Chapter 2**

**Disguise**

As Prime backed in, John guided him under the loaded Flatbed trailer. "So what is your plan?" the mech asked, as the gray-haired man lowered the trailer onto his hitch and began to connect the brake lines.

"We'll do exactly what the 'ol NVA's used to do, disguise the soldier as a civilian. Sneak you right past the enemy's position," John chuckled, he hadn't felt this kind've excitement in twenty years! It was good to feel young again. "Where's your closest base?" he asked the mech, as he fetched a couple of the Ranch's magnetic signs and began to put them over the Autobot's insignias.

Prime told him, mentioning the city it was close to.

"Long haul, but we've got a hay wholesaler near there. We'll just give him an early delivery this year," he said, patting the mech's bumper.

His three brothers came in, just as the second wave of storms hit. The four old veterans discussed the plan to help save the Autobot, not a single one afraid in the least.

"Well John, at least he blends in real well with the rest of our local rigs!" Justin said, noting that their three local rigs were almost identical to the Autobot semi.

John nodded, "We'll all leave right at the end of this second wave, hopefully the third wave hasn't built up."

Making sure that all the tarps were secure over the giant square bales loaded on the flatbeds, the brothers and the damaged Autobot waited for the storm to pass.

**Pull Out**

As the heart of the second line of storms passed overhead, the four brothers got into the cabs of the four rigs, the three starting the engines of the actual semis, to let them warm up. John settled himself in Prime's driver side seat, belting himself in and getting familiar with the Autobot's instrumentation. "My CDL's a day from being expired, so I hope we get through the next state's weigh station before midnight," he joked with the mech. Looking around, he realized there were no log books in the cab. Sticking his head out the window, he yelled to the rig next to them, "Hey Justin, you got a spare log?" laughing as he caught the log book his brother tossed him.

Prime started his engine, warming up to pull out with the rest of the rigs. "I'm sure we will make good time. Just leave the driving to me," he said, as he calculated how much torque he'd need for the weight of the loaded trailer. "I'm Optimus Prime, what's your name?"

The Veteran grinned, recognizing the name of the Autobot leader. "Name's; Major John Trenton, retired Airforce; 1st Fighter Wing, 71st Fighter Squadron out of Langley. At your service, sir!" he answered with pride.

Silently, Optimus was pleased this human was an old soldier, for he'd need nerves of steel if the Decepticons found them. "It's good to have you aboard, soldier," he responded, noting from the beam on the man's weathered face, that this was taken for the compliment it was meant to be.

Hearing the slackening rain, the hydraulics lifted the doors and they all pulled out. Agonizingly slow, they made it down the long gravel drive to the main road, the brothers splitting into two groups. When each team of two tractor trailers hit the next four way stop, they again split up. This would cause much confusion amongst any followers.

**Trackers**

"Well, where is he?!" Megatron demanded, as the Decepticons stared dumbly at the box trailer sitting alone in the middle of the water-ladened field. Optimus was no where in sight.

"He must've transformed and left his trailer, so he could run away faster," Rumble mumbled, the field was covered in a couple of feet of water, so no tracks were visible.

"Find the coward!" Megatron barked angrily, his two squadrons of Seekers jumping into the sky.

For an hour they scoped the surrounding fields and barns, not finding a clue about the Autobot's where-abouts. Then they expanded their search, beginning to look on every road for any semi that matched his appearance.

"Megatron, we've spotted seven different red semis within a hundred miles of his box trailer, they are all pulling trailers, should we investigate?" Starscream's voice came over the radio.

Megatron snickered, "So Optimus thinks he can hide, does he? Yes, investigate each and every red semi you find!"

--

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	3. Manipulation

Spotted

**Spotted**

John spotted a gleam from high above, squinting he tried to make out what it was. The familiar shape of an F-15 made his heart beat faster, for this one was painted red. "Seems we have recon overhead," he stated.

Prime scanned, "It looks like Thrust," he said, knowing fully that if the Decepticon had spotted them, he had no chance it out running him.

John thought for a second, "Do you know what his temperament is?"

"Braggart."

The veteran chuckled. "Well, we can't outrun him," he mused, "You know, I think I just heard one of your air hoses blow. We need to stop so I can fix that."

"Thrust will definently spot us then."

"That's the idea, just trust me," the tone of John's voice told Prime that the old soldier had a plan up his sleave.

Slowly they pulled over, John calmly putting out the hazard cones, acting as if nothing but a breakdown was going on. Sure enough, Thrust banked and came around, scanning them again. Prime then blew one of the air hoses, hoping that John realized what he was up against.

Dragging out a tool box, John was bent over with his head in it, cussing like a true trucker. He completely ignored the sound of the transforming Seeker, as Thrust landed, not too far away. Standing up with a big pipe wretch, he acted surprised to see the coneheaded red Seeker standing over him, glaring down.

Smiling, John looked up at the con. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you here to help me fix this god-damned hose that keeps poppin' loose?" he asked as he climbed up to the back of the cab, acting totally annoyed with the con.

Thrust was taken aback, he was used to humans running in terror when he showed up. "I'm lookin' for an Autobot. Looks just like this semi here," he said as he kicked one of Prime's tires.

John threw down his wretch and fixed an angry glare at the con. "Shit, I hope you have some insurance if you're going to wreck my ol' truck here," he threatened.

The red Seeker grabbed the man, bringing him up to his face. "So, you haven't seen any Autobot around here?" he growled.

Unafraid, John looked the con straight in his red optics. "Nope, but I've got a question for you. Are you an E variant?"

Once again Thrust was caught off guard, "No, I'm a C model."

"You know, if you had the APG-70 radar and LANTIRN pods, it'd make your job a whole lot easier," John told him.

Thrust cocked his head, interested in this human. "So how do you know so much about my design capabilities?"

"Because I was part of the first squadron to fly F-15's. Love the model! Such an incredible strike fighter in a dogfight! Those P&W F100's can sure get the job done under pressure!" John declared, stroking Thrust's ego as well.

Visibly puffing up, Thrust was enjoying this conversation. He liked to feel superior to all other combat fighters.

"Yep, I remember once when my squadron came up on a whole nest of MiG-25's while in country. Man, they couldn't match our Eagles!" the old human flying ace continued. "But I bet, that since you don't have to worry about the G-limits on a pilot – you could really rip in a dogfight!"

Thrust nodded, an arrogant smile crossing his face. "None can stand up to us!" he declared.

John patted one of the metal-skinned fingers surrounding him. "So, does your boss ever hire any ol' human flying aces?It'd sure be an honor to pilot a fighter as advanced as you!" John asked him, putting a hopeful look on his face.

Snickering, Thrust set the human down on the hood of the beat-up semi. "Your weak flesh couldn't handle the G's I can go!" the con snorted, "But if you find that Autobot and radio me, I just might let you look in my cockpit." With that, the con transformed and roared off, radioing Megatron that he hadn't found anything.

Chuckling, the veteran gathered up the hazard cones and jumped back in Optimus's cab.

"I must say, I'm very impressed with your handling of Thrust," the Autobot praised him, truly impressed by his quick wit.

John sighed, "Yep, Aces with egoes are always easy to manipulate, and the NVA's taught us some hard lessons on how to bullshit your way past guarding troops." He sighed, "but part of me would really like to get a peek of that cockpit."

Optimus chuckled, "Well, I owe you. So once we get to Metroplex I'll see if Air Raid will take you up."

"Much appreciated Sir," John answered, the anticipation of getting back in an Eagle again, gleaming in the older man's eyes.

--

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	4. Only one left

Only One Left

**Only One Left**

"How dare you return here without finding the coward!" Megatron bellowed.

Grabbing Ramjet by his wings, the enraged leader picked him up and threw him at Thundercracker. Not satisfied with that, he grabbed the next nearest of the Seekers, and Dirge soon found himself crashing into Starscream.

"But Megatron, we inspected every one of those semis! None of them was Prime!" Starscream wailed, as he struggled to his knees.

Megatron grabbed the red Seeker by his throat and brought his face up, mere inches from his own. With his other arm he pointed his cannon at the Seeker's head. "I want every single one of those semis destroyed, do you hear me? DESTROYED!" throwing the Seeker down, he fired a blast that hit right next to the prone con. "..Or face the consequences!"

Scrambling to their thrusters, the six Seekers quickly transformed and fired their afterburners to get away from their leader as fast as they could.

--

"Ok, everything looks good here." The state trooper tossed the log book back to John. The he stepped up and peered in the cab. "So you're Optimus Prime, huh?"

"That is correct."

"Got yourself in a world of hurt, did ya?" the trooper looked at all the damage on the semi.

"Getting ambushed can do that to a mech," he answered.

"Stay right here for a second, I'll be right back;" the trooper ordered. He then went back to his cruiser and talked on his radio for a while. Coming back, the trooper smiled at John. "Well, we've got a call going through to your closest base. They'll know your route and ETA."

John smiled and shook the trooper's hand. They were both Vietnam Vets, and as brothers-in-arms, they took care of each other. It was an unwritten code of honor. The trooper thrust a laser rifle into the rancher's hands.

"I know you were just a flyboy back then, but they taught you to shoot as well," Smacking him on the back, the trooper winked. "After you're done with it, just drop it off at VFW post #798. They'll get it back to me."

"Thanks brother," John said. As they gave each other a comradely hug.

Getting back into Prime's cab, John propped the rifle against the other seat. "I thought you didn't know that trooper?" Prime asked.

John shrugged as Prime warmed his engine and started to slowly pull away. "When you're brothers in combat – it doesn't matter if you know each other's name."

"Well said," the Autobot leader said. He pondered the fact that these humans always seemed to regard each other as siblings, even when they were completely unrelated.

Suddenly, the trooper whizzed around them, signaling them to pull over immediately!

Before Prime could even fully stop, the Trooper pulled up beside them and rolled down his window. "There's been a report of two red semis being attacked by combat jets! I think they're after you!"

"Crap, this blows. Guess they're just going to take out every semi that matches you!" John groaned. He had been so hopeful that he'd managed to talk their way out of it.

"Tell you what, there's a tunnel on SR 304. 'Bout twenty miles from here. Just take the next exit and go right. Maybe you can beat them to it. I'll put a call through to your boys, tell 'em the change of plans," the Trooper told them, and then he floored his cruiser and took off down the interstate.

"Looks like the only plan we've got left," Prime noted. He opened up on his engine, black smoke pouring out behind them, as he spend towards the tunnel. If he could get there before Thrust spotted them again, they'd have a chance!

--

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	5. Right on the Mark

Right on the Mark

**Right on the Mark**

Flying down SR 304, Prime topped speeds of one hundred mph! But just as they thought they'd make it, the ominous roar of a banking F-15 filled Prime's audios.

"Shit! Can you disconnect from the trailer on the fly?" John asked.

"It'll wreck, but yes, I can disconnect."

"It'll go up in flames the second they hit it with a laser – So do it!" John reached for the laser rifle as the cab suddenly jerked. The emergency disconnect of the hitch, causing Prime's shocks to flux wildly.

As the weight lifted off him, the power of his full torque shot them forward. "We have three minutes before we get to the tunnel."

John hooked his belt to the seat belt, rolling down the window he leaned out of it with the laser rifle.

"What are you doing John? If you fall, you'll be killed!"

The old Vet chuckled, "This ain't nothing compared to sitting on the back of my brother's four wheeler while we're chasing those damned coyotes! And these targets are a hell of a lot bigger!"

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Ah, don't worry about me. Just get us to that tunnel!" John shouted, as he tried to get a bead on Thundercracker.

But the darned Seeker was too far away yet. So John leaned back in the window, keeping his eyes on the Decepticon and just waiting for the perfect shot.

"Hey Prime, how sensitive are ya'lls eyes?"

"Our optics? Very sensitive."

"How long does it take to reset them after a shock?"

"Six to eight astroseconds." Optimus was starting to get an idea of what kind of 'target' the older man was considering.

"Soon as the bogie turns into a robot, I'll blind him, Ok?"

"Understood;" Optimus grinned to himself. This human was turning out to be a heck of a soldier!

--

Noticing the semi disconnecting its trailer and speeding along so fast, Thundercracker had quickly realized that it was most likely Prime. Radioing back to Soundwave, he gave the coordinates.

Deciding to position himself between the Autobot and the tunnel, Thundercracker threw on his afterburners and landed right in front of the tunnel. As Prime barreled around the corner, Thundercracker stopped him with a bunch of laser fire strafing the ground between them.

"You're helpless Prime; surrender!" he ordered in his most threatening tone.

--

John snickered as he got a bead on the Seeker. "You'd be the wiser one to surrender – you asshole!" he threatened.

Thundercracker just snickered as he swaggered towards them. He'd enjoy throwing that pathetic human, and seeing just how far the man flew before he splattered his organic processor all over the ground!

"I can't protect you John," Optimus quietly warned the man.

John just patted his steering wheel, "be patient…"

As Thundercracker got within one hundred feet of them, he was suddenly blinded as John's shot tagged him right in the face! Disoriented, he staggered backwards as he put his hands over his slightly burned optics.

Taking the opening, Prime flew forward, ramming the Seeker as hard as he could. As Thundercracker tumbled to the side of the road, the red semi dashed into the dark safety of the tunnel.

Just as they entered, Megatron and the other Decepticons landed at the entrance.

--

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	6. Mole in the Hole

Mole in the Hole

**Mole in the Hole**

"Come out Prime! And meet your demise!" Megatron yelled into the dark tunnel.

Optimus did not respond. Turning around in the tight space, he faced the entrance.

"We're a couple moles in the hole don't ya think?" John whispered, a strangely out-of-place humor in his voice.

"If that's earth slang for 'trapped with nowhere to go'; yes, it's an accurate description."

"Well, maybe we're more badgers then. Cus we got a bite!" John snickered.

Optimus was beginning to get a tad worried about the older man. Unlike most humans, he didn't seem to have a care in the world about his own safety. Either he was overly brave – or suicidal. "So why doesn't the desperate nature of our current situation seem to bother you?" he asked the man.

John chuckled and patted his dash. "When ya got stage four cancer, not much CAN scare ya!"

"That would be – terminal?"

"Yes-sir-ee!"

Ok, now Prime knew that this guy was indeed, somewhat suicidal.

"If you're thinkin' I'm suicidal, you're wrong.." John chuckled, knowing exactly what the mech must be thinking. "My thinkin' is that if the last thing I can do is help another brother out, then it makes it easier to move on; and perhaps a little quicker too!"

So John had lumped him into his group of 'brothers in arms'? It made sense. Prime figured if he was in a similar situation as the man – he'd probably feel the same way. "I'm deeply indebted to you already."

"Ah, no big deal! I'm going to try and stay alive long enough for my last flight ya promised me!" John joked.

--

Megatron glared at the hole. Cursing those ground Mechs with every word he knew, he motioned for Soundwave to come up.

"Send Rumble and Frenzy in there. Kill the puny flesh creature and have them drag that coward, Prime, out!" he ordered.

Soundwave pressed his eject button. "Rumble, Frenzy – eject. Operation: Terminate human and retrieve Optimus Prime."

The two small Decepticons transformed into robot mode and went into the tunnel.

--

"Hey, Frenzy, ya see anything?" Rumble whispered as he slid along the wall.

"Nope, coward must be way up in here."

"You stay on that side; I'll stay on this side."

Frenzy nodded; unseen in the darkness. Putting both hands on his gun, he slid along the wall, ready to squeeze the trigger at any signs of trouble.

They continued sneaking up the tunnel, looking like a couple of cops on an undercover raid. Both mechs setting their feet down gently, trying not to even make a sound.

They rounded another turn. As it slowly went into a straightaway, they inched forward.

Suddenly, the tunnel exploded in light and sound, as Optimus flooded it with his air horn and his headlights. The two disoriented Decepticons stood still for a brief second. Long enough for John to get them both in the optics!

"Akkk, I'm blinded, Frenzy!!"

"Me too! The freagin' slogger!"

The two Decepticons dropped their weapons as they grabbed at their slightly burned optics. The ominous roar of a diesel engine filled their audios. A brief moment later, the two were plastered to the grill of the semi as he roared back towards the entrance. As he saw daylight, the semi locked up his brakes – causing the two small Decepticons to go flying out of the tunnel.

Crashing into the thrusters of the gathered Seekers, Rumble and Frenzy found themselves soaring through the air again as their comrades kicked them off in disgust. Hitting the ground in a heap, Rumble's optics began to reset and he found himself looking up at a rather pissed off Megatron.

Scrambling to his feet, he dodged another kick. "We couldn't help it, the freagin' human blinded us!"

"One damaged Autobot and a human, and you two still fail! You poor excuses for Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed. "Soundwave, release Ravage!"

--

"That worked pretty good," John said, as Prime backed up into the darkness again.

"Affirmative. But I don't know how long we can hold them off like this."

John shrugged, "Well, better hope our air support gets here fast!"

--

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	7. Metal Coyote

Metal Coyote

**Metal Coyote**

The ominous sound of a snarling canine filled the tunnel.

"Sounds like they'd sent Ravage in, be careful!" Optimus cautioned John.

Hunkering down on the other side of Prime's cab, the man laid the rifle across his hood aiming it toward the entrance to the tunnel. "Sounds like a damned coyote!"

"Similar. It's a Decepticon whose robot mode is that of a canine."

"Crap, worse than a coyote! Bastard's a metal coyote huh?"

"Affirmative."

Glowing red optics could be seen darting towards them. John tried to get a good shot, but Ravage was just too fast! In the blink of an eye, the man felt a weight hit him full on. Crashing against the side of the tunnel he desperately tried to pry the metal jaws locked onto his forearm. Hearing the crunch of bones, he cursed as the pain shot through him.

"John, are you ok?"

Kicking futilely at Ravage's body, John could merely grunt in reply.

--

Suddenly, the sounds of high performance engines roared through the tunnel. Headlights coming from the opposite entrance headed towards them at high speed. Screeching tires and the smell of burnt rubber filled John's senses as the four smaller Autobots slammed on their brakes when they saw Prime.

Ravage released his grip on the prone man as Jazz transformed and went for him. The Decepticon made for the entrance, as Sideswipe, Prowl and Sunstreaker pursued him.

"The Calvary has arrived!" Jazz told them in his cherry voice.

More headlights approached from the far entrance. Jazz dashed towards the sounds of battle; Ratchet and Bumblebee transformed and came up to Prime and John.

"How bad did you get hit?" Ratchet said. His optics were scanning over Prime even as he asked.

"Don't worry about me, the human's hurt badly."

"Human?" Ratchet asked, having not seen John lying unconscious on the other side of Prime.

Bumblebee ran around to that side and spotted him. Kneeling, he noticed the man's torn arm. "He's over here, and it looks like he's hurt pretty bad!"

"Load him in; we'll get him to the nearest ER!" Ratchet ordered as he turned around and transformed.

Gently, Bumblebee picked the man up and laid him on the gurney. Climbing in, he began to try and stop the bleeding as Ratchet closed the back doors and began to drive away from the battle. Prime following close on his tailpipes.

**Critical**

"So how is he?" Optimus asked Spike when he came out of the hospital.

Spike looked up sadly at the Autobot. "Doctors say he's lost a lot of blood, and with his already weakened state due to the cancer, they don't know if he'll pull through."

Ratchet frowned as he continued the repairs on Optimus in the hospital's parking lot. "Damned Decepticons!" he grumbled.

A heavy sadness fell over the big mech, for no matter what John had said about dying for his 'brother-in-arms' – the man still didn't deserve to die like this! He hadn't had the flight that Optimus had promised him!

Bumblebee hugged Spike, for even though the teen didn't know John, he still felt sadden by what the Decepticons had done to the brave man.

"Um Prime, maybe we could use that same gizmo of Wheeljack's that took Spike's spark out while the doctors worked on him?" the little yellow mech asked.

Ratchet and Spike looked in amazement at the little mech. "We are in the process of building those new Autobots; we could use one of those chassis," Ratchet's optics got a hopeful gleam in them.

Prime looked from one to the other, "Do you think we'd have similar problems that we had with Spike?"

Ratchet shrugged, "Wheeljack's tweaked the machine a little more, but we don't really know."

"But it may be John's only chance," Optimus said glumly.

"Well, you said he wanted to fly again. Aren't some of those new bots going to be jets?" Spike asked Ratchet, an eagerness filling his voice.

The medic nodded.

Optimus made his decision, for even if it didn't work out; at least John could possibly have his 'last flight'. Even though he hadn't known the man very long, he was sure that he'd approve. "If his brothers agree, then we'll do it. Contact Wheeljack and have him bring what he needs."

--

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	8. Saving a Soul

Saving a Soul

**Saving a Soul**

The inventor's finger trembled as he stroked the top of the switch. Praying to Primus that he'd finally perfected the device, Wheeljack forced a confident gleam in his optics as he nodded and looked over at Optimus. "Well, here goes nothing!" he said as he flipped the switch.

Pulsations of energy went along the wires attached to the comatose man's head. His body seemingly trembled as the return energy flowed back into the machine. The strange pulses then traveled along the cables that were plugged into the Meta processor of the unanimated Transformer air frame.

John's four brothers and the gathered Autobots crossed their fingers that it would work! Each one praying desperately to their personal God to let the brave old vet survive.

Slowly, the flyer mech twitched his fingers, his blue optics slowly activating as the human-spark began to animate him. "What the - ?" he stammered as he jerked against the metal cables that held him down. His optics went wide in shock as he realized that he was looking down at his brothers, and they appeared the size of Barbie Dolls! His core began to build heat as his confusion ran through his systems.

Optimus was by his side, laying his hand on the flyer he leaned over him. Rubbing his metal fingers comfortingly across the thin metal skin of the flyer's shoulder, his soft optics locked with those confused blue orbs. "John, you were severely damaged in the battle. We transferred your spark into this chassis while the doctors try to repair you," he gently explained.

The flyer's blue optics looked wildly about, as he continued to struggle against his bonds. But Prime shhhh'd him like a child, telling him to calm down and think. Finally, the flyer stopped his struggles and a look of thoughtfulness passed over his face as he relaxed. Turning his head, he looked at his human brothers gathered there, tears in their eyes.

"Ya'll gave them permission to do this?!" he demanded to know. Deep inside he knew why they had done it, they couldn't accept that he'd die soon anyways. He'd accepted that fact months ago when the doctor's had given him no hope of remission, but his brothers still couldn't, it seemed.

Justin nodded, "Well, Docs' don't know if you'll make it anyways.." His eyes filled with tears. He just couldn't bear the thought of his big brother dying. His fingers trembled as he just prayed that John would understand.

"..And they said they could make you into a jet," Simon added. He knew it had killed John when he couldn't pass physicals anymore and had been grounded by the Air Force. The small hope that the Autobots had given them – for John to fly again – had been enough to convince him to agree.

"So we figured you'd be game to try it," Justin finished. He looked up at the new flyer, his expression begging John's forgiveness.

The flyer looked from brother-to-brother; _yep, they were right – if he'd been conscious, he'd probably have agreed to it. But they said – he was a jet?! _His mind flew wide open at the ramifications! He could FLY – and no damned military doctor could take it away from him again!

"Ya'll say I'm a JET?!" he stammered. Still not quite able to believe that his boyhood dream had come true.

Optimus nodded. His engines warming as he could see the expression of elation on the flyer's face.

"I'll be able to FLY?!" John struggled unconsciously against the straps holding him down – as if he wanted to take off that very moment.

Again, the red mech nodded. His core warmed by the elation that he could hear in the flyer's voice.

"Well, hell! Justin, put a do not resuscitate on me. Hell I'm dying of cancer anyways!" Much to the amazement of his human brothers, the flyer began to chuckle. His chuckle became a laugh. Looking down at his amazed brothers he grinned mischievously. "And tell those docs at Edwards that they can kiss my ass!"

Justin walked forward and put his hand on one of the flyer's fingers. "Are you sure, John?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

The flyer turned his head to the man. "Heck brother, don't be crying like I'm dead or something! I'm still me; I'm just what I've always dreamed of being! Be happy!" His blue optics were absolutely beaming in total joy.

His human brothers looked at each other, knowing he was right, but in a sense they still felt a loss. But John wasn't dead! So they began to smile as they started to accept that he would now be a robot. And now no one would ever 'pull his wings' again!

Turning his head back toward Optimus, the flyer grinned. "So why do you boys have me all tied up?"

Wheeljack and Prime looked at each other in amazement, for this time the whole spark transfer had actually gone right! And unlike when Spike had been transferred, this human seemed more than pleased by the whole situation. He was beyond just pleased, he was absolutely thrilled.

"We had to make sure you didn't go crazy over the unexpected situation." Wheeljack shrugged as he explained. Wincing, he remembered the last time they'd done this. Glancing at Spike, he thanked Primus for the hundredth time that it all been straightened out.

"Makes sense. You gonna untie me now?" the flyer grinned in humor. God, he couldn't wait to try these engines out!

So they untied him and he stood up. He swayed a bit as he stood up, just a little disoriented that he was now almost as tall as the big red mech. He looked down at his air frame, trying to get used to the whole idea. The fact that HE was now the jet – and no damned medical officer could ever take that away again!

A couple of other flyers came up to him and introduced themselves. When he heard the name 'Air Raid', a big smile crossed his face as he shook the flyer's hand in excitement. This was the Eagle, the F-15 that Prime had told him so much about!

"So you're the Eagle? Man, really an honor to meet you!" he exclaimed, his blue optics widening with his honest compliment.

The other Aerialbots looked at each other and then at Air Raid in bemusement. Not quite understanding why the vet was so damned excited to meet that particular flyer. Sliding over to the group, Optimus pulled a couple of them to the side and explained why the human-sparked flyer was so excited.

Air Raid and Skydive cocked their heads in interest. "So you were a combat pilot for the Air Force?" Air Raid asked. His core temperature cooled as he realized that training this particular flyer wouldn't be the boring and hard chore that he'd expected.

"Yes-sir-ee! Twenty years active duty!" the flyer answered. Snapping into his best Air Force salute, the new flyer stood proudly in front of his 'idol'.

Air Raid put his arm around the excited flyer, very glad that he would already have a decent idea on how to fly. And probably knew more combat maneuvers than himself, anyways. So he wouldn't take all that long to train. "Well, welcome to the team!"

"So what's your Autobot name?" Bumblebee asked, knowing it wouldn't sound right calling him 'John' anymore. Just didn't have that 'ring' to it.

The flyer cocked his head in thought. He considered his old code name back in the USAF. Yes, he thought it would fit with his new life rather well. But then he looked around him at all the Autobots that he'd now call his 'brothers'. Would they think so? So, looking over at the shorter yellow mech, he shrugged. "You think 'Cloudraker' would fit?"

"Yes, 'Cloudraker' sounds like a fitting name," Optimus agreed. His engines purred in pleasure, for he'd never expected the old vet who gave his life for a 'brother in arms' whom he'd never known until yesterday – to now truly become a brother!

So the new Autobot jet fighter 'Cloudraker' was born!

--

_**Note: **__I'm glad you all enjoyed this story that I began on a whim. Never thought I'd take it this far. But it's finally complete! Couldn't resist turning him into a little known canon that I ran across by accident while researching for a different story.._

_--_

Please review..


	9. Learning to be the Jet

Learning to be the Jet

**Learning to be the Jet**

"OK buddy, I guess you should just think about how it feels to transform from humanoid form to jet form," Air Raid said as he scratched his head. He'd never trained a human-sparked mech before. They thought so much differently than Vector Sigma sparked mechs. But at least Cloudraker had a heck of a sense of humor about it all. Made it a lot easier while they both figured out how to get him trained.

Cloudraker thought about it. It had seemed so simplistic at first. The mech had just claimed to think about transforming and it happened. Well, it didn't happen when he had tried it. It made sense that he'd have to figure out what it should feel like, then maybe his imagination would make it happen? Hell, it was worth a shot! _Well, I've always dreamed of being the jet, imagined what it felt like.. But how to transform__? _He looked over at Air Raid, knowing that he had to try something – the mech had been beyond patient. But this confusion was driving them both up the wall. Then he REALLY looked at him, noticed the way he was put together. He hoped that he was put together a similar way. So he imagined that his arms were tucked tight to his sides, his legs crammed up against his belly, his head sinking back into his neck like a turtle.

Wa-la! He transformed into a Cybertronian-type jet and landed solidly on the pavement on his belly.

"By Primus you finally did it!" Air Raid cheered. Never mind that the new flier had forgotten to put down his landing gear. Heck, he knew as much about flying and air frames as Air Raid, so Cloudraker would end up figuring it all out. Pretty much on his own at that! Air Raid seemed to be taking on more of a transformer 'mentor' role. Teaching the new mech what it was like to be a mech and not just a simple jet..

Cloudraker started laughing. "Yes-sir-ee, now I'm a god-damned jet who forgot to put his freagin' landing gear down!" he chuckled. Transforming back to robot mode, he grinned as Air Raid pounded him on his shoulder armor in congratulations on just transforming. Heck, that had only taken two days to figure out. "Now where's your landing gear come out of?" he asked his mentor.

Instead of just telling Cloudraker where, Air Raid simply transformed a few times. The new flier getting down on his hands and knees to observe every servo in action.. The Aerialbot didn't mind what-so-ever, for he was coming to realize that these human-sparks seemed to figure things out faster by observing and copying.

"I think I got it," Cloudraker finally said. With a whir of hydraulics and servos, he transformed and landed on the tarmac on his landing gear.

Air Raid grinned as he watched his new friend. "So, you ready to fly now?" he asked him. He knew just how much flight had meant to the retired Air Force pilot, and he figured the guy would want to burn afterburners straight up into the clouds. But what Cloudraker said shocked him..

"Nah, I'm like a raw recruit right now. Mind if I play for a few hours on the tarmac? Get used to this mode?" Cloudraker asked. His tone was cheerful and full of his standard humor.

Shrugging, Air Raid felt a greater sense of respect for the new mech. Cloudraker might be a new transformer, but he was tempered with the decades of experience of the human spark within him. He'd be a hell of a wing mate in battle to be sure. "Sure, that's fine by me. You need me to hang out?" he asked.

Cloudraker chuckled, "Nah, you go on. I won't get too far off the ground today. But now tomorrow might be another story."

Air Raid patted him on his wing. "Ok buddy, I'll give you four hours of fun. Then it's back to robot mode, ok?" he replied.

"Ten-four Captain!" Cloudraker said and taxied slowly away.

**Tarmac Practice..**

For several hours, he practiced taxiing around the runway. It's not as easy as it looks when you're 65 feet long, almost 50 feet wide, 18+ feet tall, balancing on three rather small points – and have 10-20 mph winds buffeting you! But Cloudraker took it all in stride, enjoying the feel of the runway beneath his tires, the wind on his fuselage. He fought the urge to throw on the fuel and bolt into the sky. Hell, he'd taught enough recruits back in the USAF to realize that all good things come with time.

He stayed a decent distance from the river's edge, and managed not to hit his wingtips on any of the hangars or parked air craft.. Then he began to realize that parts of his jet mode could move in unusual ways compared to the F-15's he was familiar with! So he began retracting his wings in and out of his main fuselage, along with the standard wing flaps, stabilizers and most interestingly – 6 different bays! There were two on his belly and one on each of his sides, below his wings. And right under his tail were two more. Now this was getting interesting! He had enough working knowledge of his design from those lectures that Wheeljack and Ratchet had given him, to know that he could not only respond as first strike, but also as transport to the smaller ground mechs. So he began to open and close them in order to familiarize himself with them.

After he'd spent time playing around and familiarizing himself with his new

'self' – he began playing with his plasma engines. These were much different from the jet propulsion engines he was accustomed too. Almost felt like a sprinter tensing up against the plates and thrusting off at the gun! Those 'Wheeljack modified' Pratt & Whittney F119 engines were so powerful; they'd start to lift him off the ground after just a few meters! It was not only fun to have a hundred thousand pounds of thrust, it was exhilarating! He wondered what kind've G's he'd be able to pull since he didn't have a human pilot to worry about.

"Ya-hoo! No damned Governor on this baby!" he laughed as he revved them slightly without releasing his brakes. "And no fucking officer to get pissed when I bypass it!" he snickered. Yes, his days in the Force had been a blast. But he had a much brighter future ahead now! And no god-damned med officer could take it away by declaring him unfit for duty because he was old.

For another few hours, Cloudraker laughed and joked to himself as he 'bounced' controllably around the runway. He'd definitely have those take-offs and landings down pat before he ever reached country. By god, he was determined to make his buddy Optimus happy that he'd given him these wings…

--

_**Note: **__Ok, left this one alone for a while. But I just couldn't help exploring the development of Cloudraker as a new Autobot flier._

_--_

_Please review.._


	10. Refueling

Refueling

**Refueling**

Air Raid watched as Cloudraker zoomed down the runway, took off, banked so low over the river that his wing tip almost skimmed the surface – then landed perfectly. Coming back up the runway the opposite way he'd just gone. His balance and control were beautiful to behold, almost like the dance of one of those human gymnast he'd caught when surfing the television channels. He wondered just what the flyer would be capable of doing when he'd fully gotten his wings under him.

His sensors began to tell him that his core was getting low on charge. It was time to chill out and have some high-grade energon. Cocking his head with interest, he considered the fact that he'd been relatively sedentary since his last refuel, whereas Cloudraker had been beyond active. Primus! The new mech must be getting very depleted by now! Chastising himself for forgetting that Cloudraker didn't know squat about being a mech – and HE was supposed to be watchful for the flier's every need – Air Raid stepped onto the runway and flagged him down.

"Time for a break buddy!" he said cheerfully to Cloudraker.

Cloudraker chuckled, "You sure? I was having so much fun!" But he transformed as he said. No sooner had his feet hit the tarmac, then the mech collapsed flat on his faceplate.

"Sloggers Cloudraker! You ok?" Air Raid exclaimed as he knelt next to the mech and patted him on his wing.

"Shit! Guess I was in jet mode too long. My legs feel like jello," he joked as he put his arms under himself and weakly tried to stand. Didn't work, he fell back onto the pavement. "Never mind, its not my legs – its my whole body that's mush," Cloudraker continued to joke, but his voice was even getting weak now.

Wanting to kick his own aft, Air Raid knew exactly what was wrong with the mech. And it was entirely HIS fault! Cloudraker didn't know a thing about energon, or even his new chassis' needs. "Hold on buddy! I'll be right back with something that'll set you straight!" Air Raid told him. Transforming, he zoomed off to the nearest energon-storage facility.

"Now this is embarrassing as hell," Cloudraker mumbled weakly to himself as his audios listened to his friend departing. Here he was; something he'd always DREAMED of being! And he was laying helpless, facedown in the middle of a runway. Like some kind of fool who'd had too much to drink! God, he hoped Prime wouldn't catch wind of this..

--

Grabbing some energon cubes, Air Raid flew in a panic back to the training grounds. Sloggers! It was all his fault! And if he didn't get some energon into Cloudraker immediately, the mech would shut down. Then he'd have to face the music when he carried him into Ratchet's med bay. For once a mech shut down from lack of power, only a medic could get him recharged and reactivated again.

Landing VTOL right next to Cloudraker, he set the energon cubes down next to him. Rolling the flier over, he prayed feverishly that those optics were still lit. They were, but Cloudraker was now so depleted that he couldn't even activate his vocal synthesizers to quip a joke. Still silently cursing himself for his stupidity in not taking care of his responsibility, Air Raid slid his legs under Cloudraker's shoulders and propped his head up against his abdominal armor. Forcing the mech's mouth open, he slowly dripped the energon down his throat.

As the glowing stuff flowed down his throat and into his primary core, Cloudraker felt a strange warmth begin to radiate back up through him. Unbeknownst to the new flier, it was the sensation of his systems powering back up. He just felt like it was the sensation that a good shot of Jack Daniels caused. His shoulders began to shake weakly, as he couldn't help but laugh. Here he was; nothing but jello, collapsed like a dolt in the middle of a runway, with his buddy dripping shots of mech-whiskey down his throat. God it made a funny image!

Air Raid felt the mech shaking, wondering if he was pouring the energon down his throat too fast and maybe choking the mech, he stopped for a second. "You ok, Cloudraker?" he asked with concern in his voice.

Swallowing the last bit of 'mech-whiskey', the mech looked up at his buddy. Did the guy not see the humor in the situation?! "Shit, that's some good whiskey you got there! But maybe I need Ratchet to look me over? Find out what's wrong," he chuckled. He wondered what the Autobot medic would say about his buddy giving him mech-whiskey when he collapsed. But hell, what was he worried about? Couldn't stop Air Raid if he tried right now – so he'd just blame his intoxication on him…

Not understanding what the frag Cloudraker was talking about, Air Raid cocked his head and looked down at the chuckling mech in curiosity. Did he not understand this was their sustenance? And just what was 'whiskey'? He just hoped the mech wouldn't be ticked that he had forgotten to make him refuel properly. "Um, Ratchet doesn't need to look you over, you're just very depleted right now," he explained.

"Depleted? What's that?" Cloudraker asked. His blue optics brightened more as the little bit of energon that Air Raid had already gotten down him, continued to flow into his depleted systems.

"It's when you've run too low on power," Air Raid patiently explained.

At that Cloudraker broke out into weak laughter again. "You mean I ran outta fuel?" he snickered.

_Thank Primus this mech's got a heck of a sense of humor!_ Air Raid thought to himself. "Pretty much sums it up," he answered. He couldn't help but smile as Cloudraker's chuckles rubbed off on him.

"Ok, so why aren't you pouring jet fuel down my throat? I mean, the whiskey's good and all – but shouldn't I be filling up my fuel tanks?" Cloudraker chuckled.

_Sloggers! I forgot to tell him about energon of all things! Optimus is going to so off-line me for this one! _Air Raid thought to himself. _He was so not responsible! He was an idiot_! "Well, we don't drink jet fuel, we drink energon – that's what this is," he explained as he held up the cube that was still almost full with the glowing concoction.

"That shit's called energon? Damn! Feels more like Jack Daniels goin' down.. Nice and smooth, makes you warm and fuzzy all over!" the new flier quipped. He eyed the glowing concoction with his blue optics. It was strange to think he would live out the rest of his days consuming nothing but this 'energon whiskey' – but it could be worse! At least it didn't taste like moonshine! Now that would be rough.

Not really understanding all the expletives and comparisons to human drink that Cloudraker was making, Air Raid merely shrugged. "Well, you need at least two more cubes to get powered back up. You ready for more?" he asked the mech. Heck, it'd take a whole one just for the mech to have the energy to sit up and feed himself. Air Raid had so screwed up… So screwed up…

"Sure, can you throw it over the rocks and dump it in?" Cloudraker joked with a big slag-eating grin. Nothing like some whiskey over the rocks to make a guy feel better – now was there?

"Huh?" the Aerialbot asked. Why was Cloudraker wanting him to put rocks in the energon? They didn't eat rocks! Did humans eat rocks with their drinks? He'd never seen Sparkplug do this.. This was confusing..

Looking up at the confused expression on Air Raid's face, Cloudraker realized that the mech had no clue… No clue whatsoever as to what he'd just said - Which made the situation all the more hysterical the more he thought about it… "That means: Pour the whiskey into a glass with ice cubes in it," he chuckled.

"Oh," Air Raid answered. "But if I put solidified water into the energon it will melt and then clog up all your filters," he explained.

Air Raid was so clueless about jokes! Cloudraker broke out into uncontrollable laughter for several seconds. Every time he looked up at the confused expression on the mech's face – he'd start laughing harder. Finally, after a little while, he settled back down. "Never mind, I guess it's just down-the-hatch with the brew then," he said and opened his mouth.

Not really understanding the 'down-the-hatch' comment, Air Raid did understand what the mech wanted when he opened his mouth and gave him an expectant look. Putting the cube back to the mech's lips, he tipped it just slightly and let Cloudraker slowly drink it all down.

--

"You know, this shit's the bomb!" Cloudraker chuckled as he took another swig of his second energon cube. He held it in his mouth for a bit before he swallowed; savoring the flavor like it was the finest of whiskeys.

Air Raid eyed him as he slowly sipped his own. It was going to take him forever to learn these human phrases the mech was constantly quipping. But one thing was certain – Cloudraker didn't blame him in the least for letting him get so depleted. Sloggers, he wished all the mechs were this laid back about stuff going wrong! This new flier was such an intake of fresh air!

--

Please review….


	11. Internal Strife

Internal Strife

**Internal Strife**

"You ready buddy?" Air Raid asked as he transformed to jet mode.

Cloudraker felt a wave of exhilaration fill his systems. He was so pumped! He was going to finally, FINALLY – FLY!! Granted, they were just going on a routine sortie. A standard patrol pattern around the base, but this didn't bother him in the least. It was the next step to true freedom in the skies. "Yes sir-ee! Let's do it!" he cheerfully replied. Transforming, he taxied at Air Raid's wing.

In perfect synch, the two of them took off together and banked around the base. Air Raid enjoying the fact that every move he made, was copied perfectly by the new flier. Doing a lazy roll, he kept his scanners on Cloudraker, enjoying the smoothness of the flier as he copied him. 'Cloudraker, let's flame for two astroseconds, then cruise at mach point eight,' he radioed.

Strangely, there was no reply, even though Cloudraker was right next to him. Although there shouldn't have been any transmission trouble, Air Raid radioed his message again. Same result. Was the mech ignoring him? He didn't think so because Cloudraker'd take any chance to quip a joke. Then why wasn't he responding? He repeated his message again – still nothing. Now he was getting very nervous. Was something wrong with Cloudraker's communications array? Crap! He'd forgotten to check! He'd screwed up again…

They were going too fast to use their vocalizers to communicate, so Air Raid had to think fast. What should he do?! Primus, he was such an idiot! Would Cloudraker ever survive him as his 'instructor'?! Deciding that they needed to land immediately in order to see what was going on, Air Raid wiggled his wings and then banked hard to port. Smoothly, Cloudraker stayed right on his wing, in perfect synch. They landed in perfect unison and taxied to the hangar.

"Awful short sortie we did there," Cloudraker quipped as he transformed. He cocked his head and looked at his instructor in curiosity.

Air Raid transformed and studied the flyer. "I tried to radio you several times, but you never replied. Is something wrong with your systems," he asked.

"Radioed me? I didn't hear anything but the wind," Cloudraker responded. His expression went from humor, to concern in the blink of an optic. Scratching his helm, he wondered how he was supposed to do a systems check on it. It wasn't good, wasn't good at all for him not to have radio.

Rubbing his chin, Air Raid wondered what other systems were off-line. "Yesterday, were you flying by instrument?" he asked.

"Why no, I was flying by the seat of my pants. That's why I took it easy," Cloudraker explained.

"Scan with your radar and then cross-reference with GPS," Air Raid ordered.

Cloudraker was silent for a second as he wondered just how in the hell he was supposed to do that. It wasn't like when he was a pilot and the jet did it for him. "Shit man, I don't know how," he finally admitted.

Air Raid looked at him incredulously. He didn't know HOW?! What in Primus's name?! But then he calmed himself down. This wasn't a Vector Sigma sparked and programmed flyer – it was a human-sparked flyer. So just what in the heck were they going to do now?

"Looks like we've got a slight problem on our hands," Cloudraker observed, "You know, I never thought it would be hard to BE the jet… Man was I wrong."

For the first time since he'd met the new flyer, Air Raid didn't hear any humor in his voice. Looking over at Cloudraker, he noticed the flyer had a somewhat downcast expression. "Let's go see Wheeljack and Ratchet; we'll get to the bottom of it. Don't worry," he said as he put his arm across his friend's shoulder plates like a brother.

"Now Ratchet's not going to whack me upside the head is he? I've heard about him," Cloudraker quipped.

Glad that his friend wasn't too terribly depressed by the whole sensor mess, Air Raid smiled. "Only if you damage yourself doing something stupid… So you have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear at all," he told him.

--

"Well, let's try to activate your sensory and communications networks and see what happens," Ratchet said as he patted the flyer on his shoulder.

Cloudraker nodded as he stayed stock still on the exam table while the medic attached several different cables to him. A strange feeling was coming over him. Like he was too big to fit in the med bay… Like the med bay was getting smaller.. Like he was trapped.. Gulping, he forced those irrational emotions down. They made no sense. Heck, even Prime fit in here didn't he?! But Cloudraker was wider than Prime because of his wings. Was he too big?! Was he going to get stuck?! Beginning to clench and unclench his right hand in tension, Cloudraker tried to ignore those paranoid thoughts. They didn't make sense.

Chuckling to himself, he figured that he was just dealing with some weird psychological trauma of going from a six foot tall human, to a fifty foot tall robot in such a short period of time. It was nothing… He'd get used to it. Forcing himself to relax, Cloudraker told himself it was all in his imagination.. He wasn't too big to fit inside a med bay designed for mechs.

He'd just gotten himself calmed down, when all hell broke loose inside his head! Suddenly, a multitude of different music stations, news stations, military network transmissions and government transmissions filled his head with such noise and confusion that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts! To make matters worse, as he opened his optics wide in shock, suddenly he was seeing multiple images superimposed on top of each other. Radar, infrared, night vision and the normal visual spectrum merged together in a mass of writhing and seething images.

Screaming in confusion, Cloudraker smashed himself in the head with his fists as he tumbled off the table. The cables ripped from his connection ports, causing severe damage to those links. Half-rolling, half-stumbling – the pained and disoriented flyer ran into the wall of the med bay. Pain shot through him as the hit tore linkages in his shoulder. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" he cried as he ran blindly in the other direction, smashing full force into that wall as well. Energon streamed down his face from his smashed olfactory sensor – but the chaos inside his head wouldn't stop! Staggering to his feet, he again ran blindly. Trying to get away from it…

The world was closing in on the terrified flyer. The walls surrounding him.. Trapping him.. Panic filled him.. Trying to transform.. Trying to fly away from the chaos in his head – the closing walls around him.. But he couldn't.. He was stuck in robot mode.. Screaming in panic he again staggered to his feet to run. Suddenly, blessedly, the world went black. Crumpling to the floor in a heap of metal plating, Cloudraker was knocked out cold.

"Thanks Optimus!" Ratchet yelled as he ran to the prone flyer on the floor. Opening several panels, he hurriedly punched in a sequence of over-ride codes. Staggering to his feet, he rubbed his forehead and stared in confusion at the flyer. "He's in forced defrag, we've got four astrohours to figure out what's wrong with him," he explained to Prime.

Prime had come into the med bay when his audios had picked up the sounds of mayhem. When the door had slid open and he saw the disoriented and panicked flyer darting and running into wall after wall – he knew he had to do something. So he'd hit him as hard as he could on the side of his helm. He hated to do it. And the feeling of guilt as he watched the flyer sink to the floor had been overwhelming – but Cloudraker had to be stopped. "Any ideas as to what happened?" he asked as he picked up the flyer and gently laid him on the exam table.

Ratchet started to put chains around Cloudraker and the exam table. After that freak show, he needed to make sure the mech was contained until they figured it out. "I don't know Prime. He seemed a touch anxious when he came in here, but when I externally activated all of his sensor and communications networks – he completely glitched," he explained.

Optimus thought about it. It wasn't normal for mechs to glitch when their networks came on line. Their programming in their battle CPUs handled it and then sent it to their meta processor. It was as natural as consuming energon – wasn't it?

Air Raid came running in. He'd heard something had gone terribly wrong with Cloudraker, and from the battered look of the unconscious flyer chained to the table – they hadn't been exaggerating! "Primus! What happened to him?!" he asked as he came to Cloudraker's side and gently wiped the energon from his faceplate. His optics full of concern for his friend…

"Have you noticed anything strange about him Air Raid? Things that aren't like normal sparked mechs?" Ratchet asked him.

As Air Raid began to speak; Perceptor, Wheeljack and Sparkplug ran in. They all crowded around, staring in confusion at the unconscious flyer as they listened to all the oddities that his mech mentor had noticed.

--

"So it took him two days to 'figure out' how to transform. He never knows when he's getting depleted. And to top it off, he had no clue about how to activate his sensory arrays," Ratchet said as he summarized the general gist.

"This is highly abnormal for a mech. We are fully functional right when we are sparked. Our programming runs smoothly, coordinating all of our systems," Perceptor noted. He cocked his head and looked down at the unconscious flyer.

"Perhaps a major glitch then?" Optimus pondered.

"Perhaps, but this glitch must be severe to be affecting so many systems!" Perceptor replied.

Sparkplug cleared his throat. He thought he might have an idea that explained everything. He was thinking about how it would be if he was suddenly thrown into a mech chassis. Heck, he didn't have any 'programming' – so how could he handle those systems if he was in John's position?

All the mechs stopped talking and looked down at the man. "Your thoughts on this?" Prime asked.

"You mechs ever consider that Cloudraker doesn't have a lick of programming in there? Sure, he seems mature and in control since his human-spark was mature and knowledgeable – but now he's nothing but a baby in that chassis. A baby with no clue on how to really control his chassis! We humans go through decades of learning and growing before we're mature. We're slowly 'programmed' by our parents; who teach us everything from controlling our bowel movements – to walking and talking." As a single father he knew how helpless a newborn was. How challenging and time consuming it was to 'program' his son through the natural learning stages. These mechs were used to new mechs being fully functional from the get-go – and there was no way that Cloudraker would be capable of it. He was human..

The five mechs considered this. It did make perfect sense. But how could they give Cloudraker the programming his battle processor needed?

"Well, let me shut down all of his secondary sensor and communications networks for now," Ratchet said. Opening a few of Cloudraker's panels, he deactivated all but his primary sensor nets. Those nets that had direct human counterparts – which he'd had no problems using so far.

Optimus looked over at Air Raid, "Until we figure out how to get his systems completely online without overwhelming his meta, I want him to stay grounded."

"But Prime – that'll kill him! He can 'fly by the seat of his pants' without instrumentation. At least during the daylight hours… At least he'll be up in the air then," Air Raid explained. He smiled internally, for he was starting to master some of those colorful human phrases.

Prime studied the flyer. He knew this setback would be very hard for Cloudraker to take. And maybe this was a decent compromise. Air Raid could use his own sensory nets for them both, and the new flyer would just stay at his wing. "Perhaps you can use this time to familiarize him with VTOL techniques as well?" he offered.

Air Raid's optics brightened, "Yes, I think he'd find that both challenging – and amusing!"

--

Alarms silenced one-by-one within his head. And thankfully – SILENCE met his returning consciousness. He did feel straps holding him down tightly, and that strangely unsettling sensation flowed over him. Forcing his building panic down, Cloudracker activated his optics – praying that he'd see normally again.

He did! Scanning around him at the five mechs and one human looking down at him – he grinned. Turning his head towards Ratchet he winked. "Don't ever – EVER – put me on an acid trip like that again… Damn, I thought I was losin' it!" he chuckled.

The mechs looked at each other in total confusion, but Sparkplug began to laugh with him. "Acid is a drug that totally changes your reality guys. It causes delusions, illusions and massive disorientation," he explained.

"And that was the worse 'trip' I've ever had! Man, Sparkplug – you'd better watch Ratchet and those damned cables he plugs into us!" Cloudraker chuckled.

"Nah, Cloudraker – you're just missing a bunch of programming and your meta went berserk when he flipped your systems on," Sparkplug explained as he sat on the flyer's chest.

"Overloaded with sensory data to be more specific," Perceptor explained.

"No shit?" Cloudraker asked, his optics getting larger in exaggeration.

Air Raid smiled as he nodded, "No shit," he replied.

"Hey bud, you're finally catching on. Great!" Cloudraker chuckled. "So you guys gonna untie me now that I've come down from my Ratchet-induced acid trip?" he asked.

"I think he'll be fine guys. As long as we don't activate those systems until he's ready," Sparkplug said as he climbed down from Cloudraker's fuselage.

"Well since Sparkplug and Air Raid seem to think you'll be safe, we'll let you loose. You are not to leave Air Raid's side – and I want you to check in with Sparkplug on a daily basis," Optimus said as he began to take the chains off of the flyer.

"Yes sir-ee!" Cloudraker said as he sat up. Looking up at Air Raid, he winked. "Can we get out of this building? It's giving me the heeby-cheebies…"

--

_**Note: **__the fun of imagining what it would REALLY be like for a human-spark thrown into a jet chassis! And since the canon description calls for Cloudraker to have claustrophobia – this is going to get even more interesting…._

_--_

Please review…


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